


Left-Behind Promises

by Kiterou



Series: My Magic Academia [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Avoidance, Bittersweet, Coming of Age, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Goodbyes, Implied/Referenced Bullying, Introspection, Magic, Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, Uncertain Friendship, Wizard Midoryia Izuku, no beta we die like sir nighteye
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:00:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28286610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiterou/pseuds/Kiterou
Summary: Between one school and the other, Izuku only has two weeks' time to give his only (former) friend his goodbyes.
Relationships: Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku
Series: My Magic Academia [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2065380
Comments: 11
Kudos: 87
Collections: Genuary 2021





	Left-Behind Promises

**March 25th, 2146**  
Musutafu, Japan

By the time Izuku started his magical education, the name _Deku_ had already been well in use in his class. He didn’t think Kacchan had meant it to become so popular, but - even with seven, Izuku had known that his friend was short-tempered. But still, Izuku never believed that Kacchan had meant it like that. It was just that Kacchan didn’t know about _it_ , and Izuku couldn’t tell him, so he couldn’t even pretend to have a quirk and Kacchan-

Kacchan became frustrated, was all. With Izuku not having a quirk. So he called him Deku, because people without quirks couldn’t become heroes and that made Izuku useless, because they wanted to become heroes together.

But it stuck, even after Mom had taught Izuku his very own spell. It wasn’t much, he knew - he could make things warm to the touch and he needed his practice wand they’d gotten from the shops, like with all the spells she taught him. Not that it was a lot - most times, Izuku just learned about historic stuff and how to identify plants and the animals he’d seen in the hidden zoo close to the Chubu Sangaku National Park.

At least after learning his spell he could tell them he had a quirk. The doctor was beside himself - only a small number of people were late bloomers, according to him as he filled the form for the quirk registration. He hadn’t noticed the practice wand underneath the desk or the nervous murmur of the spell.

The name Deku still stuck and Kacchan still didn’t want to play with him as often. Izuku was still _weak, useless, bothersome_ to the other kids. Kacchan called him a nerd and told him to shut up when Izuku couldn’t help himself but mutter out his thoughts.

And then Kacchan stopped coming over entirely and stopped looking at him when the other kids taunted Izuku. By the time the pushing and shoving began, Kacchan called him Deku too; not like that first time, annoyed and exasperated and hot-headed, but like the others did. After that, Izuku kind of wished he’d asked Mom to go to the other school instead.

But he never told her. Not once. Instead, Izuku just tried to keep his head down and learn all he could and tried not to annoy Kacchan. He still dreamt of becoming a hero, just like All Might, of learning how to fight and save people. He even tried to keep up whatever was left of his friendship with Kacchan, risking the boy’s ire every time he greeted him and smiled and ignored the jeers of the other kids.

Not that it helped, but Izuku was bad at giving up.

Still, he was only a kid himself. And despite him still wishing his best friend back, wishing to have an actual quirk and not a spell he couldn’t even use most of the times because of the _secret_ , eleven-year-old Izuku would lie to say he didn’t look forward to finally attend Mahoutokoro properly, the very school Mom had gone to - the school _all_ magical children in Japan attend to. He’d visited the building a lot during exam times, but most of the exams were held in the same room and with Mom working they had never had the time to really look around or talk much with the people there.

Just the thought of making some friends with _kids like him_ made him jittery and nervous and light-headed, the way a new All Might video made him feel. Maybe even more so, which was weird.

“Oi, Deku! What the fuck’re you muttering about?”

Izuku winced when he heard the double _pop_ of small explosions. The smell of burnt sugar hit his nose - it was ever-present when close to Kacchan. “O-oh! Just- thinking about stuff. Sorry, Kacchan!”

“Tsk. Whatever. Just shut up.”

It was the last class of the term - in just a bit, the school would let out. _The last class with Kacchan_ , Izuku thought wistfully. He knew Mom had told Auntie Mitsuki and Uncle Masaru that Izuku would go to a special school come April, but he wasn’t sure if Kacchan actually knew - or if he cared at all. Should he tell him? Probably.

Izuku didn’t know if he wanted to, though, and felt like a coward for it. No matter what, Kacchan was still his _friend_ , wasn’t he? And Mahoutokoro was a boarding school for kids his age. He wouldn’t see Kacchan until July once he was gone, so what-

“I said _shut the hell up!”_ The explosion was much too close for Izuku’s liking and he hastily ducked his head, clamping his mouth shut. It wasn’t of much use - just then, the school bell rang out and the kids were already jumping up with excited shouts, ready to leave school for a couple of weeks behind.

Jumping up as well, Izuku hastily threw his belongings into his backpack, eyeing Kacchan warily. The blonde was glaring around, clearly pissed off, and Izuku hoped it wasn’t directed at him. Mostly, Kacchan tried to ignore him and didn’t join the other boys in their shoving and taunting. _Mostly_.

(But then there was that one instance last year when Tsubasa had mocked Izuku for his _Dad_ and Kacchan had blown up in Tsubasa’s face instead and for a solid week, nobody had dared to say anything more to Izuku _or_ Tsubasa. Izuku held that moment close to his heart whenever things got bad.)

For a few moments, Izuku teetered on the edge of staying. But then Kacchan looked up and whatever it was that got him so upset, the look in his eyes had Izuku hastily retreating anyway.

 _Coward_ , part of him whispered, but Izuku pushed that away. It was a tactical retreat, was all. Besides, he had two weeks to tell Kacchan, which was plenty of time.

~~~

 **March 27th, 2146**  
Kawagoe District, Japan

“Mom, _hurry!”_ Izuku whined, but he didn’t care how childish he sounded. Today was, after all, the _big day_. After four years of waving his generic practice wand around, they were finally about to buy his _real_ wand - the one that he’d hopefully keep through all his life. The one that _chose_ you!

He immediately wanted to break out into a run just thinking about it, but Mom held onto his hand, an amused smile on her face.

“Now, sweetheart, no running,” she said and Izuku had to swallow a groan. Ever since his eleventh birthday _last year_ he’d begged to get his wand, but no, he’d had to wait until now, just two weeks before he started his proper school! It was one of the very few things he let himself be impatient with because it was about his _wand_. The one that would make him a proper wizard after four years of morsels and theory.

Mom’s giggling snapped him out of his thoughts. He’d been murmuring again, pulling at the hand holding him back as they made their way through the old-fashioned shopping street of Kawagoe.

The _magical_ one, that is.

Placed smack in the middle of the warehouse district of the city, the alley was less an alley as a mass of interconnected buildings constructed around the early Edo period. Mom had brought Izuku here a few times already - once after Dad’s funeral and then again when he’d turned seven and started learning more about magic. With their tight budget, they had maybe enjoyed two or three trips a _year_ , which had preserved the feeling of excitement and novelty within Izuku.

And it was well-earned - the magically expanded space really didn’t make much sense, if you tried to apply normal physics to it. Most of the district was roofed, but the rooms and corridors with their traditional designs were stacked together like a bunch of uneven boxes - shops sharing spaces and windows looking into another corridor and steps leading to and fro. It was a colourful maze that attracted lots of people all year round, selling everything from potion ingredients to food to clothing to stationery and anything in-between. Here and there, the roof would open up and a patch of sunlight hit a small, thriving garden or a water feature or a beautiful stone arrangement, perfect to sit down for a quiet moment.

Not that Izuku needed that right now. A maze the district might be, but he knew exactly where to find the wandmaker. He never failed to drag Mom all across the district every time they visited, just to take a long good look at what Abe-san sold.

_”There it is!”_

Mom was laughing again, finally letting go of his hand just as Izuku rushed forward. Abe-san’s wand shop was placed between a confectionary store and a second-hand bookstore, and across from them, with a stone garden in-between, were some eateries. The shop itself was somewhat small but well-kept, the sliding doors wide open to welcome in the customers.

“Abe-san!” Izuku hollered before stopping in front of the shop, a bit breathless and excited. The man looked up, hazel eyes blinking twice before he smiled rather toothily.

“Hello, young man. Just looking again?”

“No!” Izuku immediately said. Mom, who had caught up, pushed him inside the shop.

“He’ll start school in a bit and needs a proper wand,” she said and the wand maker’s smile got even bigger.

“Then let’s see about that! This is a special moment for you, young man,” he told Izuku, who already _knew_ that. He knew that most people kept their wands until the end, that that first wand was something precious, that sometimes, when you broke it, it could be hard to get a new one that worked right.

A wand. A _wand_. His wand! He would have a wand, and he would go to Mahoutokoro and meet other kids that were the same as him and he’d finally learn more than a handful of baby spells and-

“Oh dear,” Abe-san said with a quick look towards Mom and Izuku stopped short, feeling the heat flood his face. “Hey now! It’s alright to be a bit excited. Come, let’s see what suits you. Take this one, try it out!”

It took them almost half an hour of waving and flicking a host of different wands, each one tested ranging from not quite right to outright volatile in Izuku’s hands. But then he found it and Izuku knew, just from curving his fingers around the handle. He _knew_ , with a rush of warmth and excitement.

A smile stretched his lips when he cast _his_ heat spell on the lone stool in the shop.

And then Abe-san and Mom hurried to douse the resulting fire.

~~~

 **March 30th, 2146**  
Musutafu, Japan

Walking the streets of Musutafu shouldn’t be this weird. But Izuku couldn’t help but look at things and think: _I’m going away._ Granted, he would be back during summer and winter and spring - school would let out for the major holidays and while Izuku could opt to stay during the winter hols at least, he had no intentions to do that.

But he’d be away for most of the year. Ten out of twelve months. And he would be away for at least _five_ years (at least five because he still held out some hope to switch schools when he turned 15, that he could attend one of the big hero high schools like UA or Shiketsu High) and at most seven. And then he’d be an adult. So whatever his future held, his childhood in Musutafu was over come April. It made him look at all the little details he’d long grown to ignore because of their familiarity - the way a tree root had dug up a bit of walkway pavement and nobody ever bothered to repair it. The fence of the neighbouring building, crooked to one side, paint chipping. The tree in the park with its little hiding place, a hollow Izuku knew he wouldn’t fit in anymore. One of the wild cats watching him with just one eye, an old scar where the other should be.

A few kids from class on the way to the park, knees scuffed and with grass stains on their shirts, a ball in one’s hands. Izuku stopped in his tracks and moved behind a car until they were gone, then turned the other way. He had no interest in engaging them now, or ever. Which was good, because in under a week, he wouldn’t be in Musutafu anymore.

“They’ll be just as glad,” he muttered to himself, wondering how their homeroom teacher would tell them. Probably cut short - none of his teachers put much importance on him, not after his ‘quirk’ expressing so late _and_ weak. Nothing at all like Kacchan, who’d become a splendid hero one day.

The thought ached, but it was a familiar feeling which only fed his determination. So what if he didn’t have a real quirk? So what if he was a wizard, and he couldn’t tell anyone without breaking the law? He could still become a hero. He could still join Kacchan later on, just like they used to talk about.

So what if he hadn’t even _told_ his friend (maybe-friend, former-friend, not-friend) that he would be gone in a week, that he’d switched schools, that he looked forward to switching schools because everyone was calling him Deku now in that nasty, demeaning tone and Izuku knew Kacchan hadn’t meant it, but he’d said it too, didn’t he-

The faint smell of burnt sugar pulled him out of his spiralling thoughts - he wasn’t far off from home, which meant he wasn’t far off from Kacchan’s home, too. In the distance, he heard an explosion popping off. He was home, then, and probably training his quirk in the backyard.

Izuku should go and tell him. Whatever happened between the two, Kacchan was still his friend, right? He deserved to be told by Izuku instead of Aunt Mitsuki or, worse, their homeroom teacher. He deserved to be told that come next week, the desk next to him would be empty because Izuku was about to _go_.

They had always talked and dreamt about it, about becoming heroes together. (His hand gripped his wand tightly.)

And Izuku was about to go and leave Kacchan in Musutafu.

(But he’d also leave the mean jokes and hard shoves and punches and tripping behind. He’d leave the name Deku behind and how it made him duck his head. He’d leave behind the adults dismissing him because he could only use his spell when he had his practice wand with him, and even then it was so _weak_. He’d leave all the people who didn’t _know_ the secret behind.)

His hands shook and he balled them into fists, clenching his teeth and closing his eyes before turning towards home. _Coward_ , he thought, but he still had a few days left.

~~~

 **March 27th, 2146**  
Abe-san’s wand shop

_”Hmh… yes, why not- try this one, Midoriya-kun.”_

_They’d tried for a long time now and Izuku could see Mom’s worried look. Abe-san, however, looked far from worried - the man seemed to be_ excited _, of all things. Maybe he really did like tricky customers._

 _Giving the offered wand a quick once-over, Izuku noticed the bright colour and clean lines of the design. Abe-san’s wands usually had more- more_ pomp _to them, more decoration. Twisted handles, ebony and bone decorations, careful carvings of runes and kanji and Sanskrit, mother of pearl and other nice-looking stuff - most every wand had some kind of adornment. Mom’s wand, too, had a piece of pink jasper inlaid in the handle, although her wand came from a shop in Tokyo._

_This wand, however, was straight and polished to a shine, with not much else but the natural grain of the wood as decoration. Two thin lines indicated the transition from handle to shaft, the flat end of the handle covered with black lacquer. It looked- plain. Plain and simple, but also kind of strong._

_When Izuku took it, a rush of warmth spread out from his hands up his arm and over his whole body, making the boy gasp in surprise._

_“Japanese cypress,” Abe-san said as he watched Izuku, a small smile tugging at his lips. “For those who put other people’s well-being above themselves. It’s a popular wand within the Auror force, they say. Kirin hair as a core, good for gentle magic and protective spells. Healing, too, if one has a talent for that.”_

_A warm hand touched Izuku’s shoulder before giving him an encouraging squeeze. “Try it out, sweetheart,” Mom said and Izuku gulped, eyes still fixed on the wand in his hand. The others had felt clumsy at best, too long or too short or too heavy. Some of them had been downright uncomfortable, the decoration digging into his palm. This one, however, felt smooth and secure in his grip._

_It felt perfect._

_“Ām̐ca,” he said, the pronunciation of the foreign language flowing easily from his lips. It had taken him_ months _to learn it because Mom had made sure he’d never slip up. Fire, she’d said, or even heat or any other spell producing warmth, needed a firm hand. But it was_ his _spell - his fake quirk “Hot Touch”. Izuku had thrown himself into learning this spell._

 _Even with a practice wand, he could make the air_ flicker _with heat._

_He didn’t quite think about that when he pointed at the stool in the shop. By the time he saw the wood blackening and bursting into flames, it was far too late, but thankfully Abe-san was not even a bit mad about it all._

~~~

 **April 4th, 2146**  
Musutafu, Japan

Five days turned into four into three into two of wandering Musutafu and packing his things and one last trip to Kawagoe to make sure Izuku really had everything he needed.

And then it was April 4th, and that evening Izuku would take the Floo to Okinawa and from there they would send him to Mahoutokoro, which was on the far-away island of Minami Iwo Jima. But it wasn’t evening yet - it was late in the morning, almost past ten already, and Izuku could smell something delicious cooking up in the kitchen.

His room looked not desolate, but emptier than he was used to. Boarding students in Mahoutokoro shared a dorm for the first five years, but each student would have some room for decorations - Izuku had read the information booklet very carefully when he went about packing his favourite All Might merchandise. Half of his figurines, his favourite four posters, the special calendar with limited All Might pictures he’d gotten from the fan page, his alarm clock-

His wardrobe had barely fit into his bags.

Excitement and dizzying anxiety churned his stomach. It took a few minutes to push it all down, but he could still scream with all the pent-up energy he felt.

He was going today. He was _going_! Tonight he would attend the welcoming feast and settle in in his dormitory and meet his new classmates and tomorrow, school would start properly. And from what Mom had told him, it wouldn’t be all theory with the odd spell if he was lucky - no, Mahoutokoro would really teach him how to use his cypress wand.

 _Cypress for the heroic_ , he thought, because he’d looked it up on one of the hidden forums that connected magical Japan. It filled him with awkward- _something._ He couldn’t put a name to it, but it only strengthened his will to find a way to become a proper hero himself.

“Morning, Mom!” he called out when he cleaned up and got dressed, just in time for breakfast to be ready. He eyed the plates with wide eyes - all of his favourites were dished up.

And there was a mobile phone on the table, too.

“Sit down, sweetheart,” Mom said, smiling and slightly misty-eyed. It suddenly hit Izuku that he’d leave not only Musutafu and Kacchan and- and the bad stuff behind, but also _Mom_. Knees going weak, he dropped onto his chair and tried to rub the familiar sting in his eyes away. He shouldn’t cry about this, not a minute ago he’d been so happy!

“What’s with the phone, Mom?” he finally asked, busying himself with his plate.

“It’s for you,” Mom replied and Izuku almost spat out the rice. Almost.

“For me!” Oh no, he was crying, wasn’t he?

The phone, it turned out, was a special one - despite decades of research, electric devices were still prone to bust in places rich with ambient magic, like the hidden alleys or buildings where lots of spells were cast. Something about the enchantments and spells made them deteriorate really quickly. But there were people who could place careful enchantments on non-magical things to make them not immune, but a bit harder to break.

“That way, we can talk to each other. Maybe on Sundays? Or whenever you miss me. I’d have bought it earlier, but they were out this close to the new school year. You’ll have to hurry if you want to exchange numbers with your friends.”

And now Izuku was thinking about Kacchan again because he knew he had a mobile phone as well since last year. When he felt the lump form in his throat, he pushed it down and thought about other thinks, letting Mom distract him with tales from her own school days.

The rest of the day went by in a rush of emotions. Twice again Izuku cried, overwhelmed with all of it, already missing Mom but still looking forward to this new life. Other times he felt sick with guilt because he still hadn’t told Kacchan. And the rest of it he was simply excited and a bit hyperactive, checking again and again that all of his merch and his notebooks and his books and clothes were packed.

And then it was time to go and Izuku had no excuse anymore - he’d go to Mahoutokoro without telling his only friend goodbye.

So naturally, as Mom and Izuku made their way to the pub, weighed down by Izuku’s luggage, Kacchan was just on the way home.

“What the f-” The blonde glanced at Mom and grimaced. “Hello, Auntie. D-Izuku. Where are you going?” His red eyes landed on the luggage, narrowing in suspicion. “Tomorrow’s school.”

Next to him, Mom stiffened with surprise and Izuku felt his stomach churn and his throat tighten. Oh no, oh _no_.

“Izuku, sweetheart,” Mom said slowly and Izuku shook his head.

“Can you go ahead, Mom?” he asked, and the desperation and shame rang in his voice. Mom stared at him, then at Kacchan, and then she nodded and took the big trunk from him.

“Don’t- there’s not too much time, sweetheart,” she told him and then she was gone.

“Deku,” Kacchan growled, clearly not liking any of this. But Mom was right - he’d wasted so much time and now he had barely any left.

“I’m switching schools,” Izuku blurted out, eyes drawn to the ground between them. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but I thought you-” he stopped when he smelled the burned sugar and heard the soft pops of mini-explosions. Swallowing, he finally looked up into the confused and angry face of his friend. “It’s a boarding school,” he said and he didn’t want to cry, so he blinked the moisture away. “I’ll be back for the hols, but- I need to go. I have a phone, Mom’s got the number, but I didn’t think you’d want that, and I’m sorry!”

Whatever small amounts of courage he had left him, a rush to his ears as he ran away from the other boy, down the street and after his mother. Kacchan yelled something, but Izuku couldn’t make out the words - didn’t want to understand, if he was honest.

 _Coward_ , he told himself and the tears fell anyway, dripping down his cheeks and chin by the time he caught up to Mom.

She didn’t say anything and Izuku was glad for it.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out [the Monster Blog of Monsters](https://themonsterblogofmonsters.tumblr.com/)! I found the [Kirin](https://themonsterblogofmonsters.tumblr.com/post/98503538749/kirin-also-sometimes-transcribed-as-qilin) in it. This is a fanmade encyclopedia for magical beasts and beings that's a lot of fun to look through!


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